Back On The Mountain
by Lily Hanson
Summary: The Rangers enjoy a little time together.


_Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Megaforce. This story is fan-made._

_Author's Note: This is not where the Megaforce series starts. If you want to read the series without getting lost, I suggest you read my stories in the order they appear:_

_**No To Date Nights - The Party Night - Project Partners - Megaforce: Lives Behind The Masks - **__**Prom Night**__ - __**A Trip To Remember - First Meetings - Something She Loves – Protective Morans – Samurai In Harwood County – Rainy Days – Luck Had Nothing To Do With It – Ranger Support – Parents and Children – Hero Without The Spandex – Emma's Night – Emma's Mother – Bait And Switch – After Death – A Stormy Day – A Date For Tensou – A Mother's Advice – Mending Fences – Executioner Named Revenge –Those Three Words – On The Fourth Day – Babysitting – Tiger- A Fresh Start**_

Gia looked down at her arm as Tensou waved a wand over it. She had just gotten back from the doctor's so he could remove the cast and she couldn't be more excited, but she had been warned about pushing herself too hard. The bone was repaired, and after spending weeks inside a cast the muscles in her arm were weakened and smaller. The cast was gone, and Gia was free to move her arm around, but she still had limits.

Unfortunately, she was a Ranger. Though the team had made it this far with a yellow Ranger with a broken arm, no one wanted to take any chances. They wanted their teammate back, and they wanted her without the risks. The doctors couldn't do much to speed up her recovery, but Tensou had a lab full of equipment that would get her arm back to full function.

Gia giggled as the wand passed over her arm and started to tickle. She pulled away.

"Yellow Ranger, stay still," Tensou grabbed her arm and held it in place on the table. Gia covered her mouth with her hand to try not to laugh. She wanted her arm back, but Tensou wasn't making this easy.

Behind her, the other Rangers were watching and they hoped Tensou was right about his technology. They had to trust that Tensou and Gosei had machines that would speed up recovery when the Rangers were injured. After all, as Rangers, injuries were a common hazard. However, they weren't sure how far his technology could go.

"She's not going to have a super arm, is she?" Jake asked. "This isn't going to make her super strong, right?"

"I'm simply speeding up the healing process," Tensou assured him. "Instead of waiting weeks and suffering through hours of physical therapy and exercise, Gia should get her arm back in a matter of moments."

Tensou then had to pull on Gia's arm and pin it to the table. He shot her a look, "If she'll stop moving."

"Sorry, but it tickles," Gia said with a laugh. Tensou shook his head but he kept working.

"I told you mountain boarding was dangerous," Emma looked over to Jake.

"Mountain boarding isn't dangerous. Gia's just an idiot."

"I'm right here," Gia called to her friends, "And my arm's going to be perfectly fine real soon. You might want to watch what you say."

Jake smiled at Gia before he turned back to Emma, "In fact, if Tensou can get her arm back, I'm going to take her to the mountains to… OW!"

"If she breaks her arm again, you're taking her to the hospital."

"C'mon, Emma, loosen up," Gia said. "You've always gone riding the day after you've broken your arms. I've waited weeks to get back on my board."

Emma crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, "You suck."

"There," Tensou moved the wand away from Gia's arm and looked up at her, "I'm all done. Try it out."

Gia looked at her arm and the wiggled her fingers. Everything felt normal. She bent the wrist and made a fist. Tensou handed her some weights.

"See what you can hold."

Gia nodded and picked up the weights one at a time, being careful not to strain herself. Tensou promised his technology could work miracles, and she had seen him do it before with Jake's head, but she also knew the body needed time to heal. She didn't want to undo Tensou's work by moving too quickly. As she practiced with her hand, using different motions and lifting the weights, Tensou did scans of her arm to make sure everything was working as he hoped.

"You're brilliant, Tensou!" Gia smiled and kissed the top of his head when everything came back positive. Though he technically couldn't blush, Tensou did roll away in embarrassment.

"It was nothing," he replied bashfully and then handed Gia a paper, "It is unlikely to occur, but these are a list of possible minor side effects. If you don't see or feel anything within the next couple of days, you're clear. Give the list to your mother so she knows to look out for you."

"Yeah, thanks, Tensou," Gia took the list from him and shoved it into her pocket. Then she turned to her teammates and saw they looked ready to go. Jake took her helmet out of his bag and put it on her head.

"Are we ready?"

"I'm still not sure about this," Emma said. She took the list from Gia's pocket and read it over, "Gia, some of this stuff seems pretty painful. Muscle aches? Joint pain? Temporary immobility?"

"I'm going to be fine, Emma," Gia wrapped her arms around her best friend. "C'mon, we'll have one race down the mountain."

"On the beginner's hill," Emma said with a sigh. Gia was stubborn, so if Emma couldn't get her to stay away from the mountain for a couple of days while her arm finished healing, she could at least keep her as safe as possible.

-Megaforce-

For Gia, being back on the mountain felt great, and the fact that her friends had all decided to join her was even better. She had her own board and protective gear back, while the others rented equipment from the cabin at the bottom of the mountain. Troy was a natural, and was riding down the mountain with relative ease. He still took a lot of falls, especially when trying to stop or turn, but as long as he was going down straight at a reasonable speed, he could stand.

Noah couldn't get enough balance to save his life. He continued to tackle the hill, but had more bumps, scratches, and bruises than he did perfect runs. It wouldn't be long before he called it quits. Gia thought of maybe taking him under her wing before that happened. She wasn't the best at mountain boarding, but she was proving herself on the hill. Though her weeks of inactivity was showing, it was just like riding a bike.

Jake was naturally athletic, and so he did fairly well on the mountain, but he was a little too daring for his own good. Like Noah, he kept falling over, but only because he wanted to go too fast, or try jumps when he wasn't exactly sure how to do them. Still, he was having a great time.

Emma was the only one not on a board. She had her bike, and was racing with Gia down the mountain. She knew she could easily beat her best friend, and could ride at twice the speed she was currently doing, but she wanted to keep an eye on Gia, just in case something was wrong.

"Group race!" Jake called when he reached the bottom of the mountain and he looked around at his friends. "I think we've all had enough practice runs. Time to see who really is king of the mountain."

"Or queen," Emma said and looked nervously to Gia and Noah. They were the ones she was most worried for in the race, "Jake, I don't think that's a good idea."

"We're having fun," Gia smiled.

"You're having fun," Noah rubbed his butt, "Are we sure this padding is enough? I'm going to be black and blue for weeks down there."

"Noah can be the judge, then," Jake suggested as he put his arm around his best friend's shoulder. "Whoever makes it down the mountain first gets the biggest sundae Ernie can make. The losers have to pay."

"I want ice-cream," Noah pouted. He picked up his board, "Alright, fine, I'll race, but can the winner please remember some of us don't get huge allowances?"

"Allowance?" Troy rolled his eyes, "I earn all my money babysitting my little sister. You get it for free?"

"I do chores…"

"Me too," Troy said.

"Alright, the biggest sundae the losers can pay for within a reasonable price," Jake said. "Do we all agree on that?"

"Agreed," everyone else nodded and then started their climb up the mountain. As they walked up, Emma stayed with Gia.

"How's the arm?"

"You're a pain, you know that, right?" Gia chuckled. "Emma, relax. I'm fine. I'm not feeling any of those side effects."

"Just be careful, alright? The biggest sundae in the world isn't worth you breaking your arm again."

"I know," Gia nodded her head and finally everyone reached the top. Emma got on her bike and made sure her helmet was on properly, just in case she did fall. Noah shifted around his protective gear in hopes it would cushion him a little more for when he would inevitably wipe out. Troy readied himself on his board so he was good to go, and Jake leaned into Gia for a kiss.

"Good luck," he smiled. Gia adjusted her helmet and smiled back.

"You'll need it more than me, Holling."

"At least you're having fun," Jake chuckled and Gia nodded her head.

"Thanks for this, Jake. Bringing everyone here and riding with me. It means a lot."

"I know," Jake smirked. He kissed her one more time before he had a look at the others and saw they were all ready to go, "Alright, on your marks. Get set. Go!"

Everyone took off down the mountain except for Noah, who was stuck at the top. He hopped and tried to get his board going, but it was a slow start. Eventually, he started rolling down.

"Finally!" he said. Then his wheel hit a rock, he lost his balance and fell over. He groaned and rubbed his butt before getting up.

"Man," he picked up his board and started running down the hill, "Guys, c'mon. Wait up!"

A little further down the mountain, Troy was second to last. He knew he wasn't likely to win, so he was just trying to make it down once without stumbling and falling, and he was hoping not to fall too far behind. He was only a little ways off from Jake, who seemed very determined to win the race.

"Eat my dust, Troy!" Jake called before he tried to take off, but he got too much speed and eventually couldn't control himself, the board, or his balance. He wiped out, and the only thing Troy could do to stop himself running into the black Ranger was jump off. He hit the ground and rolled for a bit. When he stopped, he looked up at Jake, who was grinning guiltily.

"I guess I bit off more than I can chew?"

"Guys!" Noah suddenly shouted as he ran past them, down the hill at an incredible speed for the team nerd. "I can't slow down! I've got too much momentum!"

"He's going to beat us!" Troy said and looked over to Jake in shock. The black Ranger shook his head.

"No way. He can outsmart me all he wants, but I'm not losing to Noah in a race!"

"Let's go," Troy nodded his head and the boys jumped up and tried to catch up the blue Ranger on foot.

Towards the bottom of the mountain, Gia and Emma were the only two in the race. Emma knew she could win. She had the speed, the control, and the experience to smoke the boys and Gia. But she rode alongside her best friend, enjoying the race.

"You know I can kick your ass," Emma said and glanced over to Gia.

"I want that ice-cream," Gia shook her head.

"And I don't?"

"What do you say we split it, then?" Gia asked and glanced over for a moment, making eye contact with Emma. "The boys can split it three ways and we get the biggest ice-cream all to ourselves."

"You know, that might…"

"I can't stop!" Noah suddenly cried out from behind them and the girls looked over their shoulder to see him running down the mountain uncontrollably. Not wanting to see their friend get hurt, they both stopped to try and catch him. Noah ran right into both their arms and knocked them over. The three of them rolled down the mountain, but no one crossed the finish line.

Troy and Jake were next to come down and ran, on foot, to the end, cheering when they made it. Noah pushed himself off the girls and then started tapping what he thought was the ground.

"Noah, that's not dirt," Emma said and shoved him off of her and Gia.

"Sorry, but my glasses fell off. I can't see without them."

"Here, dude," Jake saw Noah's glasses at his foot and picked them up. He handed them to the blue Ranger, "Now, all three of you, pay up. Troy and I finished first and we want…"

"Wait, did you get those from here?" Gia asked and pointed to Jake's feet. He nodded his head.

"Yeah, so?"

Troy hit his head with his hand, "Aw, man!"

"What?"

"Noah's glasses crossed the finish line before any of us," Emma chuckled as she brushed herself off. "Technically, that makes him winner."

"I won?" Noah asked. He cleaned off his glasses, put them back on his face and looked around at his friends happily, "Did I really win?"

"Technically," Gia nodded. "We did saw whoever crossed first, and your glasses are a part of you."

"Yeah, but Noah didn't really… I mean… glasses don't count, do they?" Jake asked. All his other teammates were nodding yes, and Noah was already celebrating his victory by trying to decide the best combination of ice-cream for his prize. Jake knew there was no point arguing. "Alright, but I want it on the record Noah only won through a technicality."

"Why? Are you a sore loser?" Gia asked and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend. Jake hugged her back and shrugged.

"I'm supposed to be the brawn," Jake said. "I'm all for losing on a smartness level, but… this is just embarrassing."

"Poor Jakey," Gia chuckled. She kissed Jake's cheek then let him go and put her arm around Noah, "C'mon, let's get you some ice for the bruises, and ice-cream for the victory."

"Hey! The victor was only promised ice-cream, not a girlfriend!" Jake gathered up his equipment and bag from the ground and started to run after Noah and Gia. Emma and Troy chuckled as they watched and picked up what their teammates left behind.

"You know," Troy turned to Emma, "You could have beaten us all in that race."

"This is better," Emma nodded her head.

"I guess it's all good when there are no broken bones," Troy agreed. "You know, Tensou is just trying to be safe with that list."

"Yeah, I know. I just can't help but worry."

"Even if there is nothing to worry about?"

"Old habits die hard," Emma nodded. "Why don't I call Jordan on the way to Ernie's? Maybe we can soften the blow for Noah's ice-cream bill if he tags along?"

"Is that fair?"

"I could have won, remember?" Emma chuckled. "Besides, Jordan won't say no to hanging out. His class should be over soon. We can meet him there."


End file.
